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PR 2923 

1914 

.N5 

Copy 1 ADDRESS 

BY 

HENRY CLEWS, Ph.D., LL.D. 

Of the Mayor's Committee. 



ON THE OCCASION OF THE CELEBRATION OF 

THE 350TH ANNIVERSARY OF SHAKESPEARE'S 
BIRTH, AT THE CHAPEL OF HUNTER (NORMAL) 
COLLEGE, PARK AVENUE BETWEEN 68TH AND 
69TH STS., MANHATTAN, ON MONDAY EVENING, 
APRIL 20TH, 1914, AT 8 O'CLOCK. 

Shakespeare said, "The evil that men do lives after 
them ; the good is oft interred with their bones." 

With all his great knowledge, experience and judgment, 
he v/as right in the main, but in his own case he was wrong, 
as the good he did is remembered; and the evil, if any, is 
buried and forgotten. 

Fifty years ago I had the honor to serve on a committee 
to arrange a celebration of the three hundredth anniversary 
of the birth of this great man. To-day, ex-President Levi P. 
Morton, Henry Holt and myself are the only survivors 
of that memorable committee, and it gives me infinite pleasure 
to represent these survivors at this gathering. 

It is an astonishing fact that, next to the Bible, quota- 
tions from Shakespeare's works are more often used than those 
of any other author, living or dead. His works have been 
translated into the language of every civilized nation, and 
many passages that are apropos at the present ^^ime show- 
how deep a student he was of human nature, and how little 
human nature has changed in three and one-half centuries. 
Kings, rulers and great warriors have lived and died since 
Shakespeare's time. Just think how few there are among 
them whose v/ords can be remembered to-day; and many of 
the ancient celebrities are only remembered because Shakes- 
peare chose them as characters in his plays and thereby 
made them immortal. 



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I regret that the present day audiences care more for ^ 
light comedy and vaudeville than for the grand Shakespearean 
dramas. Just so often, however, periods of time come when 
the public demand Shakespeare and insist upon having him. 

I am glad, indeed, that the public schools are to help us 
celebrate. If I had my way, some first class actor would be 
engaged to visit the public schools during the spring season, 
and read extracts from Shakespeare's plays. Such a plan 
would do far more to impress the pupils with the beauty of 
Shakespeare's style and language than if they read the lines 
themselves. 

I would also teach every pupil that grand piece of advice 
which old Polonius gave to his son Laertes, when he left 
home for foreign shores, the greatest passage of which reads : 
"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night 
the day, thou canst not then be false to any man." 

I do not think that a period of fifty years should elapse 
between times for a celebration of Shakespeare's birth. I 
propose that such a celebration be held every five years. 
Those of us who are past middle age will soon pass away, 
and before we go we want to do our part to impress upon 
the coming generation that veneration for the remarkable 
qualities of Shakespeare that we ourselves are imbued with. 
Actors, like other human beings, are governed largely by 
their environment. Those who are remembered as greatest 
in their line have almost all taken Shakespearean characters 
as their specialties; Macready, Forrest, two generations of 
Booths, Salvini, Barrett, McCuUough, Davenport, Irving, 
Mrs. Siddons, Adelaide Neilson, Charlotte Cushman, Bella 
Pateman, Ada Rehan, Helena Modjeska, Ellen Terry all took 
part in various dramas and comedies, but Shakespeare made 
them, while they helped to keep alive his memory and per- 
petuate it in such an able way that Hamlet, King Lear, Julius 
Caesar, Othello, Macbeth, Brutus, Cassius, Richard III, 
MacDuff, Romeo, Petruchio, Ophelia, Juliet, Lady Macbeth, 
Rosalind and Katharina seem almost like our own people. 

By the way, speaking of Macready, I was one of those 
present at the famous Forrest-Macready riot in Astor Place. 
I was pleased at first to be there, but when the guns began to 
go off all around me, I gave an exhibition of speed that any 
sprinter might be proud of, for, as our great author put in 
the mouth of his fat knight, Falstaff, "Discretion is the better 



part of valor.** Valor is the proper thing where the cause 
is a noble and just one, but discretion is always admirable 
in most circumstances in the lives of men and nations. (Just 
at this moment I wish Huerta had more of it — ). 

A great many, who ought to know better, say, "I do not 
care for tragedy, therefore I never go to a Shakespearean 
play." If these people would hear, or study, "The Merry 
Wives of Windsor," or "A Midsummer Night's Dream," or 
"The Taming of the Shrew," or "Much Ado about Nothing," 
they would find that Shakespeare's comedies were in their 
way as great as his tragedies. 

Many people unconsciously quote extracts from Shakes- 
peare and have no idea that he wrote them. For instance, 
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have 
greatness thrust upon them." 

"The ripest fruit falls first." 

"While you live tell the truth and shame the devil." 

"Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!" 

"He hath eaten me out of house and home." 

"The eagle suffers little birds to sing." 

"Brevity is the soul of wit." 

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a 
thankless child." 

These, and hundreds of other trite sayings, are part of 
the daily vocabulary of the public. 

Some people's idea of heaven is that it is simply a state 
of spiritual happiness, and that those who live in that state 
are permitted to keep in mental touch with the world and 
see the result of the good they did while here, and the good 
that followed. If this be so, and Shakespeare is in such a 
heaven, think of the happiness that is his to know that to-day, 
nearly three centuries after his death, we still celebrate 
his birthday, and hail him as a master who has never been 
surpassed, and rarely, if ever, equalled. Great authors, great 
artists and great composers seldom get their just due while 
alive, and I sincerely hope that in the after-life they are per- 
mitted to know that their good work is a monument that 
secures for them a lasting fame. 



Many of the ancient Greek philosophers* names are per- 
petuated and are familiar to all of our students, while the 
names of many of the kings and rulers of their time are now 
unknown or forgotten. Everybody knows something of 
Shakespeare, but how many can tell the names of the kings 
of England who ruled in the century of Shakespeare's birth? 
How many of us here assembled can tell the name of any 
playwright of even one hundred years ago, and tell of a single 
play that he wrote? Shakespeare is still Shakespeare, and we 
must imbue our sons and our daughters, and their sons and 
their daughters, with our respect for him, and inspire them 
to read and study him. 

I have no criticism to make on the work or methods of 
the educational authorities of this city; on the contrary, I 
can heartily, and with knowledge, sound their praises; but in 
suggesting that a first class actor be engaged to render 
Shakespeare's lines in our public schools, my idea is, that if 
the best could be secured the greater would be the resultant 
profit, as young men and young women are hero-worshippers, 
and the best would appeal more strongly to them. As I look 
back I can see in my mind's eye, and almost hear again, the 
great men of my younger days who so eloquently rendered 
Shakespeare's grand lines; and my desire is that the pupils 
of to-day should so remember them in years to come. Every 
one of us knows, and can repeat the Lord's Prayer, but it 
was said that no one had ever said it as it should be said until 
Edwin Forrest's time. 

A certain clergyman had refused to dine where Edwin 
Forrest was to be a guest. Some time later a banquet was 
given at which the guests were about one-half clergymen, 
and one-half laymen. Unknown to the certain clergyman 
alluded to, Forrest was a guest. After dining, and while en- 
jojang their cigars and friendly talk, a suggestion was made 
that each of the clergymen should recite the Lord's Prayer, 
as he thought it should be recited. Almost all did so. Then 
the host asked Mr. Forrest to say it as he thought it should 
be said. He did so, and so eloquently and feelingly that tears 
stood in the eyes of every one in the room. The clergyman 
who thought himself too holy to dine with Forrest was on 
his feet in a moment, and grasping Forrest's hand, said, "Mr. 
Forrest, you are unknown to me, but I want to thank you for 
teaching me how to recite this simplest, but greatest, prayer. 
Who are you, and where did you learn to so recite it?" 



Forrest replied, "You may have heard of me. My name is 
Edwin Forrest, and I am an actor. I have been reciting the 
Lord's Prayer daily, since, as a little child, I knelt and learned 
it at my mother's knee, and each day I have tried to improve 
so as to do it justice. That I have convinced you that I am 
worthy is indeed a pleasure to me." 

That clergyman had learned a lesson. And what I want 
to have done is to have the noble words and thoughts of 
Shakespeare so rendered that those who listen will be im- 
pressed as Edwin Forrest impressed his host and fellow 
guests at that banquet. 

It has been well expressed that a nation's greatest fame 
lies in men, and not in material wealth or possessions; so 
England and the entire English-speaking races may well 
treasure the fame of this greatest of England's sons. Shakes- 
peare is included in that galaxy of great men — seven or ten 
at most — who are indeed the planet-shakers, the rulers and 
kings of intellectual empires, incomparably grander in their 
dominion and extent than the material monarchies and gov- 
ernments of earth. The latter will, in the course of ages, as 
history tells us, decay and perish, but the lords of intellect, 
the sages, poets and philosophers of all time will have im- 
perishable fame, and their work will continue to be an inspira- 
tion and a blessing to remote generations of men. 

In this high and noble company of choice and great 
spirits, who have helped and uplifted humanity, the world 
will always acknowledge the almost unrivalled supremacy of 
William Shakespeare. 



ADDRESS 

BY 

HENRY CLEWS 

DELIVERED AT THE CENTRAL PARK EXERCISES 
HELD IN HONOR OF THE 350TH ANNI- 
VERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF 

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 
ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON, 
APRIL 23, 1914, AT 2 O'CLOCK. 



Your Honor, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

Being an Englishman by birth, but an American by 
adoption, which perhaps suggested to the Committee ap- 
pointed by his honor, the Mayor, the assignment to me of 
the great honor of placing in position the flag of Great Britain 
with that of the United States ; it is entirely appropriate that 
the Union Jack be entwined with the Stars and Stripes, as 
emblematic of the perpetual peace and amity that distinguish 
the two great English-speaking nations. 

At the meeting of the Mayor's Committee on last Mon- 
day night, on my motion, it was unanimously voted to hold 
a Shakespearean celebration every five years, so that the 
memory of this great man may be kept in perpetuity from 
one generation to another. For all our plans for the future, 
we will have the assistance and co-operation of the descend- 
ants of those who planned and perfected the original organ- 
ization, which is also very appropriate. 

We commemorate on this auspicious occasion the natal 
day of William Shakespeare, who, to quote his own words, 
as applied to Julius Caesar, was the "foremost man of all this 
world," at least in a literary sense. 

I do not hesitate to say that he was the greatest man 
England produced, and that he is England's noblest heritage 
to humanity, and England's greatest son. 



We me«t here to-day, under the shadow of the noble 
work of art designed by a great American sculptor, J. Q. A. 
Ward, to pay tribute to Shakespeare's genius, to do honor 
to his transcendent fame. We cannot hope by our feeble 
words to enhance that fame, for Shakespeare's name is writ- 
ten upon the scroll of earth's immortals, is known and hon- 
ored throughout the civilized world ; and as the years roll on, 
that fame will grow immeasurably greater because education 
and enlightenment will sooner or later prevail, even in the 
most benighted regions of earth. 

Shakespeare is one of the few great immortals of litera- 
ture—one of the choice spirits whose works will live forever." 

Fifty years ago, on April 23d, 1864, I had the distinction 
of being on the Shakespeare Celebration Committee to honor 
the name and fame of Shakespeare, upon the three hundredth 
anniversary of his birth, and this statue, then erected, has, 
I think, performed in itself a wonderfully uplifting and 
humanizing work in teaching thousands and tens of thou- 
sands of our citizens, many of whom were originally of 
diverse races and creeds, something about the great bard 
whom we are honoring to-day. Many a little boy and girl 
playing around the Mall, or walking or riding with his or 
her parents in this majestic Central Park of ours, have had 
their first knowledge perhaps of William Shakespeare from 
the fact that this noble monument to the poet's genius is here. 

When this celebration was inaugurated, our esteemed 
Mayor was inspired to appoint as members of the three hun- 
dred and fiftieth anniversary committee those surviving mem- 
bers of the three hundredth anniversary committee and also 
the descendants of those members of the original committee, 
who have since passed away. This was a happy and an 
appropriate action. So our work of half a century ago is 
still going on, and doing good for our citizens. 

We honor and reverence William Shakespeare for his 
serene wisdom, the unrivalled beauty and copiousness of his 
diction, his masterly delineations of character and supreme 
feuth in all that is good and of fair report. 

In the roster of those great departed spirits who have 
helped and uplifted humanity, the world will always keep 
the great name of William Shakespeare well at the top of 
the list. 



ADDRESS 

BY 

HENRY CLEWS 

DELIVERED AT THE BANQUET GIVEN 

BY THE NATIONAL ARTS CLUB, IN 

HONOR OF THE 350TH ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE BIRTH OF WILLIAM 

SHAKESPEARE, ON THURSDAY, 

EVENING, APRIL 23, 1914, AT 

8 O'CLOCK. 



Fifty years ago I had the honor to serve on a committee 
to arrange a celebration of the three hundredth anniversary 
of the birth of William Shakespeare. 

To-day, ex-President Levi P. Morton, Henry Holt and 
myself are the only survivors of that memorable committee, 
and it gives me infinite pleasure to represent the survivors 
at this gathering. 

I am indeed glad to be with you this evening, to cele- 
brate the natal day of the greatest poet of the English lan- 
guage, and one of the greatest of all time. 

Three hundred and fifty years ago to-day there was bom 
in Stratford-on-Avon, William Shakespeare, son of John 
Shakespeare, a glover, formerly a farmer, (for such was 
the humble origin of this great king of literature). 
But genius knows no distinction of caste or class. In 
the laborer's little cottage by the roadside, the lordly 
mansion of a noble, or the gorgeous palace of a mon- 
arch, in hamlet or town, at the centres of civilization or in 
remote wildernesses, the spark of genius may be lit and a new 
and wonderful intellectual force may have its rise. Such a 
man — a heaven-born genius — as Shakespeare, owes little as 
a rule to ordinary schooling. While his knowledge was uni- 

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versal, and his adaptations and borrowings from other play- 
wrights was a life-long habit of his — except perhaps in his 
sublimest masterpieces, such as King Lear, Hamlet and Mac- 
beth, — yet the electricity of his genius, the profound phil- 
osophy of life which he had evolved for himself, enabled him 
to change many of those dry-as-dust chronicles and hum- 
drum plays of other writers into the renowned dramas that 
now constitute the works of Shakespeare. 

Oh, wonderful, calm, unconscious child of genius, great 
Shakespeare! What hidden wealth of intellect, what pre- 
cious stores of wisdom lay slumbering within you when, as. 
tradition tells us, you were a poacher on others' preserves 
in some rural spot of your beloved England, or a stable boy 
in the heart of London, or an obscure actor at the Globe or 
Blackfriars' Theatre in that then small, and almost provincial, 
city? 

It is perhaps true that these were the outward physical 
manifestations of the mmt Shakespeare, but the immortal 
soul, the spiritual entity resident within him, triumphed over 
all these mean and lowly appearances; and he emerged from 
his obscurity into the splendid, glorious sunlight of his great 
fame, just as grandly floats in the atmosphere the lordly eagle, 
scorning the valleys and the haunts and habitations of men 
to soar into the empyrean vault of heaven, his only true habi- 
tat. 

It would be a good thing if, as I suggested on Monday 
evening last, at the Shakespeare meeting at the Normal Col- 
lege, a first class actor could be selected to speak from time 
to time Shakespeare's lines to the pupils of our schools; and 
I see that my suggestion has led the "New York World", 
in an editorial in Wednesday's issue, to question whether 
there are any actors to be found nowadays capable of ren- 
dering properly the incomparable Shakespearean dramas. 
But if the writer of that article had been present at the ren- 
dition on Monday evening last, — without the help of cos- 
tumes, gestures or scenery, — of "The Winter's Tale", by 
Mrs. Emma Sheridan Fry's Educational Players, I think he 
would have had to confess that there are persons to-day, 
many of them residents of our own city, competent to do 
justice to Shakespeare, and speak his lines with elocutionary 
perfection. 

How true and good, how appealing to all of us, are his 
good women! What noble self-sacrifice, fidelity, tenderness. 



faith and love, do his heroines display in the noble characters 
of Rosalind, Hermione, Cordelia, Portia, Imogene and the 
rest. 

As a nation's material wealth is dependent upon crops 
that grow from seed, so is its lasting influence due to the 
dominion of mind over matter. The man who plans and 
devises is remembered, while the man who builds only with 
hands is forgotten. Ask a dozen men for a list of those who 
have reflected the greatest credit on Great Britain during the 
history of that country, and I will guarantee that every one 
of them will include Shakespeare in his list. Ask them for a 
list of those who have enriched literature since the birth of 
civilization, and Shakespeare's name is likely to lead all the 
rest. 

In the high and noble company of choice and great 
spirits, who have helped and uplifted humanity, the world 
will always acknowledge the almost unrivalled supremacy of 
William Shakespeare. 



ADDRESS 

BY 

HENRY CLEWS 

At the Testimonial Banquet in honor of 

Sir Johnston and Lady Forbes-Robertson 

At the Hotel Astor 

Monday, May 4, 1914, at 7.30 P.M. 



Under the Auspices of The Civic Forum. 



New York City is notable for its munificent support of 
Art in all its branches. It demands and gets the best that is. 
It pays dazzling prices for the best singers in the world, and 
welcomes, with grand support, the best actors who speak 
our language. This is why we have with us to-night Sir 



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Johnston Forbes-Robertson, and I can call upon him to tes- 
tify that we love him as one of our own. 

We have just celebrated the three hvmdred and fiftieth 
anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare, whose works 
have outlived the product of the literary geniuses 
who were his contemporaries. It is well to refer to 
Shakespeare at this gathering, as the honored guest of 
this occasion is the greatest living Hamlet, and has done 
more than his part on the stage to help keep before the public 
the grand ideas of Shakespeare. Every actor thinks that he 
can play Hamlet, but Sir Johnston is Hamlet when he appears 
in that character. The stage is the greatest pulpit in thej 
world if properly used. Sir Johnston, in "The Passing of the 
Third Floor Back," preached one of the greatest sermons 
ever heard. He silently entered a house filled with the de- 
mons of hell. The occupants were liars, slanderers, cheats, 
gossips and petty thieves. He enters quietly, filled with the 
spirit of Christ, and in his gentle, winning way imbues them 
with the seeds of the spirit which makes all who meet him 
live a new life and turn from evil to good. If that one play 
were the only one in which Sir Johnston took part, the Ameri- 
can people would still be in his debt. Such men as he uplift 
the profession, as they seek the good and eschew the evil. No 
woman need fear what she may see or hear when she goes 
to see Sir Johnston act, as his work is uplifting, refreshing and 
inspiring. We of the English-speaking nations are knit pretty 
closely together in a bond of friendship, and such men as 
Sir Johnston have done yeoman service in cementing this 
friendship. 

The worthiest traditions of the English stage are per- 
sonified in our guest: the great achievements of Garrick, 
Macready, Irving and the other great luminaries of the his- 
trionic world have been rivalled by him. All honor to all the 
great Englishmen who have visited our shores, and by their 
messages of good-will have cemented the ties of love and 
friendship which have bound us to the Mother Country dur- 
ing the past one hundred years of peace and friendship. It 
is well that we should always accord a rousing welcome to 
these unofficial, but nevertheless potent, ambassadors from 
Britain's shores. Amongst the number of these plenipoten- 
tiaries of peace and friendship our good friend, Sir Johnston 
Forbes-Robertson, will always be remembered with feelings 
of sincere good fellowship and unstinted admiration for his 

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014 156 802 4 4 

great talents, lofty purpose, and the high nobility of his 
nature. 

It is not meet for man to live alone, as a good wife is the 
greatest blessing that can be given to any man. Sir Johnston 
realized this fact and was most fortunate in winning the lady 
who bears his name, and who has done so much to help him in 
public as well as private life. To her is due the same measure 
of love and admiration that we express for him. The only 
thing we have against her is that she is such a good, noble 
wife and woman that he had rather live at home with her and 
enjoy domestic bliss than to follow his profession and reap a 
fresh harvest of success. To have seen and known the lady 
is our excuse for forgiving him for depriving us of the pleasure 
and profit he has afforded us. He may leave the stage, he 
may stay in his own beloved country ; but thousands of hands 
invisible will stretch across the sea to clasp his hand in spirit, 
or to be raised in benediction over the heads of him and his 
dear ones. His presence may be denied us, but memory will 
still enable us to behold him close by and to think of him as 
one of our own. 

I trust that we may be pardoned the conceit in believing 
that at times he and his charming wife will say "The Ameri- 
cans are a rather good lot, and we wish we were with them 
again." 

I believe that in the not distant future we and our fellow 
citizens will have the privilege of w^elcoming to our shores 
Sir Johnston and his charming wife, and meeting them as 
dear friends off the stage, should they decide to abandon 
their profession. 

We in this country are hero-worshippers and bow to all 
champions. As I stated before, we like the best of every- 
thing, and that is why we love Sir Johnston and his talented 
wife. 



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